Page 109 of Secret Squirrel

“Oh, nothing,” Fox said. “Just thought I’d get in some exercises before we leave.”

“On your knees?”

Fox huffed out a laugh and pushed upright, holding the wall for support. Yeah, I may have been a little harsh with him, but sometimes Fox needed to be put in his place. Duke’s eyes flashed to mine and I shrugged.

“He’s weird like that. Don’t let him play any show tunes for you in the car. You’ll regret it.”

Duke nodded slightly. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Together, they headed to the door. Fox did his best to walk normally, which was hilarious because it was mostly his arm that was injured. He’d be fine.

The door shut with a soft snick and I went back to work, though my mind was on Duke the whole time.

“Did you enjoy that?” Scottie asked.

“Enjoy what?”

“Taking Fox down a peg. It’s not like many of us do that.”

“That’s because you’re all gutless cowards. The key to dealing with Fox is to show no fear.”

“The key to dealing with Fox is to ply him with Funyuns,” he corrected. “And that wasn’t dealing with Fox. That was pissing all over Duke.”

“Not true,” I said, continuing my work. “I was merely reminding Fox that he has a responsibility to me.”

Scottie didn’t say anything, but I could feel his grin over here. The silence went on for an uncomfortable few minutes, so much that I started to fumble when I was typing, which really fucked with what I was doing.

I spun in my chair and faced him. “Just say it.”

He grinned at me, shaking his head slightly. “I wasn’t going to say a thing.”

“But you want to.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. I can feel you dying to say whatever shit is in your head.”

Again, he shook his head, slouching back in his chair. “Nope, not a thing.”

I turned back to my computer. There was no point in riling him up. With any luck, he’d leave me alone. But he wanted to say something, and that was going to bother me.

I spun back to him. “Just fucking say it!”

“You love him,” he said enthusiastically.

“Love is so far out of the question.”

“Oh, please,” he scoffed. “We’ve all known it for a long time now. We see the way you two stare at each other. We all knew it was going to happen eventually.”

“The only thing going on between us is copious amounts of sex.”

“And lo-ove,” he said in a sing-song voice. “I don’t get why you deny it. It’s so much easier to move forward when you’re honest with yourself.”

“I am being honest. I’m saying that Duke and I are so not alike that it would never work out, but the sex is great.”

“You’re thinking Duke is nothing like us, but he is. When it comes to protecting people he cares about, there’s nothing he wouldn’t do for them. Why do you think he flew down here for that kid? Theo isn’t even his.”

“Because he’s a good man.”